New consortium of researchers, teachers, and non-profits in the blindness community will work to provide a new standard of tactile graphic equity for people who are blind or have low vision.
National Braille Press (Boston), LightHouse of San Francisco, and University of Alabama, Huntsville have launched the Accessible Graphics Consortium (AGC), creating a collaboration of a community of university researchers, teachers and organizations united to aid in the common and standardized provision of tactile graphics to people who are blind or have low vision.
Universal information is often presented as imagery: maps, charts, graphs, diagrams and pictures. However, very little of visual content in the public sphere is accessible to the blind and visually impaired. Braille is widely used as an essential tool for literacy, but broad access to high-quality tactile graphics, raised-line interpretations for the blind and visually impaired, is essential for knowing the modern world.
The primary goal of the AGC is to promote greater tactile graphic literacy through research, improved production methods, and curriculum development. AGC will collect, analyze, advance, and disseminate best practices to the community, first focusing on the creation of a recognized program for training teachers in tactile graphics for STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math).
The AGC will also establish an Advisory Group to support these initiatives. Stakeholders include national blindness organizations such as the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) the National Federation of the Blind (NFB), American Foundation for the Blind (AFB), teachers of the visually impaired (TVIs), academic researchers, curriculum developers, and large producers of braille and tactile graphics.
“This new consortium of organizations, universities, and talented individuals will work together to bring a unified approach to producing, teaching, and learning how to read tactile graphics for the blind and visually impaired which will immensely improve access to tactile graphics for this community,” said Brian Mac Donald, President of the National Braille Press.
Bryan Bashin, CEO of LightHouse of San Francisco added, “Tactile graphic literacy can often fall behind in the priorities when teaching the skills that people who are blind and have low vision use to live life successfully, and yet it is the foundation from which so many joyous experiences can stem. We at the LightHouse here in San Francisco are proud to be a core member of this new partnership and consortium.”
“The role of tactile graphics in learning for individuals with visual impairments is often under-estimated and definitely under-researched. The creation of this consortium that focuses on research and development to better understand the impact of tactile graphics on learning is exactly what the field needs. The STEM-VI Research Laboratory at UAH is excited to be a member of new collaboration,” said Derrick Smith of the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
